Garment



April 22, 1952 L. L. KEEPER.

GARMENT Filed Oct. 15, 1949 ATTORNEY- Patented Apr. 22, 1 952 ""uN TEo STATES PATENTOFFICE 2,594,032 r f "GARMENT Lorraine Lee Keefer, El Dorado, Kans."

Application October 13, 1949, Serial No. 121,131

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to womens garments, and it has for its objects to provide a garment which embodies the following characteristics:

1. The crotch of my garment is located forward of the actual body crotch.

2. The garment is cut on the straight of the material, with the leg seams running straight and falling forward of the universally used leg seam line.

3. Through the use of my crotch line idea, the shadow effect through sheer dresses is eliminated.

4. Through the use of my crotch line idea the tight panty effect and the pulling across the groin is eliminated.

5. My garment will hang like a skirt and it has the convenience of panties, thereby causing the total effect of the garment to be that of a true petticoat-panties combination.

6. With my invention, no yoke is necessary, thereby necessitating only two pieces of material.

7. The whole garment can be out in only one operation by laying the pattern on doubled material.

8. The garment pattern is so designed as to permit a much simplified sewing procedure.

9. The front seam of the garment is cut shorter than any other seam in the garment.

10. The legs of my garment are of medium width and, by my designing of the garment seat, the two sections fall together to form a skirt while the closed crotch takes the place of panties. The garment is attached at the waist to an elastic band that holds it in place so that it will neither ride up nor down. It is always of proper skirt length and the careful designing causes it to remain always in place, even when the wearer is seated.

Other objects will in part be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment of the aforesaid objects and ends, the invention still further resides in the novel details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts, all of which will be first fully described in the following detailed description, and will then be particularly pointed out in the appended claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figs. 1 and 2 show the two sections of the garment as cut from the cloth and ready to be sewed.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the garment in place on the body with the legs wide apart.

Fig. 4 shows the crotch seam when the leg is lifted.

Fig. 5 is a front view of the garment on a body in normal position.

Fig. 6 is a central vertical section, showing the contour of the crotch and leg seams of the garment.

Fig. 7 shows how both pieces of the garment can be cut out at one operation froma piece of folded cloth.

' In the drawing likeparts in all the figures bear,

the same reference numerals.

By reference to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen that a-b is the waist line, w-c the front body edge and be the rear body edge. c--d and 6-! are the leg-seam edges.

The edge w-c is straight from the point a to the out-curve, ending at c, and is generally parallel to the leg-seam edge 0-41. The edge b--e is straight, except for the curved portion, but converges slightly with respect to the edge cd (compare lines a-g and 12-42. in Figs. 1 and 2). while the edge e-f tapers to a larger degree toward the bottom edge d--g--hf..

The back edge b-e is substantially longer than the front edge ac of the garment (and of the pattern) but both edges 0-11 and e-f are of the same length. The lengths of the edges c-d and e;f are dependent upon the length of the dress under which the garment is to be worn, and is therefore variable for each size garment.

By using a short front seam with a slight curve for the crotch, and elongating the back seam to a long curve for the crotch, the front and back seams will meet at the point ce in Fig. 6, which point will be forward of the normal body line :c-a:. The crotch seam and leg seam meeting-point as is also made to terminate lower than the actual body crotch line so as to avoid any tight pulling or cupping in" of the garment at the crotch. By bringing the back seam forward to the point ce, the leg seam will be located forward of the natural body line and results in the production of an undergarment having a skirt effect in the front, with enough fullness so that no "dividing line" or space will show through a sheer dress.

The leg parts of the garment can be made very full to facilitate freedom of movement. In my garment there is no seam line at the hip to show under a tight dress. This also assures a full unbroken line from the waist past the hips, and down to form the leg parts of the garment. The only gathering is at the Waist 20 where an elastic band is inserted, the elastic band being cut to waist measurement. This elastic band will stretch and slide easily over the hips and will still fit snugly at the waist, with no fullness visible after the garment is on the wearer. It allows V comfort in breathing and physical activity, however.

The waist and hips of the wearer expand in a sitting or stooping position. My garment has taken this fact into consideration by using an elastic waist band, and by making the back portions of the garment larger and fuller than the front portions of the same.

The bottom of the leg portions may be trimmed with lace L, if desired.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, it'is;

thought that the'construction and advantages of my invention will be clear to those skilled 'in theart to which it relates.

What I claim is:

An undergarment composed of two panels; a:

right and a left, said panels defining the body and leg portions-1 of the garment; said panels havingvupper, side and bottom. edges, ,theiupper.

edge ofeach piece forming apart: of the .waist line ofthe garment, one side edge of each panel being positioned at the front of the garmentzand" having 'uppe'r and lower substantially parallel portionsa connectedgbyia curved portion, the Iother: side edge of each panel being positioned dat'tthet reartof Itlre garment and having uppersandulower front and rear edges of each'panel being connected together to form the body seams of the garment and the lower side edge portions of each panel being connected together to form the leg seams of the garment.

LORRAINE LEE KEEFER.

REFERENCES CITED The' :following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED"ST'ATES PATENTS} Number Name Date 1,07 6,390, Potterf Oct, 21, 1913 1,249,131 Lavign ,Dec., 4,1917. 1,258,836 Watson Ma r. 12.11918 1,670,4;74-. 'Neilson V May '22,. 1928 1,985,933 Laskin Jan. .1,. 1935;; 2,436,106

Goldstein Feb. 17. 1943; 

